The Velvet Underground & Nico – Covers & Connections
It's well established that The Velvet Underground & Nico is highly influential. Let's take a quick look at some interpretations by and influences upon subsequent artists.
Lou Reed: Screen Test
In 2009 a collection of Andy Warhol screen tests was released – 13 Most Beautiful… Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests. The DVD is a compilation of extended looks at celebrities set against music which reflects their personalities. Warhol and the Velvet Underground had a fruitful creative relationship so it's not surprising that Lou Reed would lend his face to this project. However, what makes this chapter of the DVD so cool is that Lou Reed manages to exude American rock and roll simply by drinking a Coke. The accompanying song is I'm Not a Young Man Anymore from a 1967 bootleg of The Velvet Underground. I don't know about you, but this kind of makes me thirsty.
Read More...The Velvet Underground & Nico
Our month long coverage of the Velvet Underground at Those Who Dig begins tonight with a look at the group's debut album: The Velvet Underground & Nico. Peel slowly and see.
Darondo – Didnt I
Darondo – Didn't I
I've always wanted to be one of those bearded guys that wear fedoras and have encyclopedic knowledge of soul and funk. You know, the guys that can name everyone who recorded for Stax in 1962 and have a room devoted to the thousands of long-lost soul LPs they've found after spending countless hours in dank record stores searching through those dusty stacks that pile up underneath the nicely organized vinyl.
That's what I want to be when I grow up. Fuck astronauts. Reality is, though, that I'm a long, long way from being that guy and as much as I love the soul, funk, and Motown genres, I've never been good at finding lost gems unless someone gives them to me.
Today is different. I discovered Darondo all by my myself (well after Gilles Peterson discovered him a few years ago). His story is the stuff of legend: allegedly a San Francisco pimp who recorded 3 singles and played 4 shows (including one with James Brown) in the 1970's before becoming an artifact collector, local cable star, and physical therapist. No man with that great of a story can make anything but great music. And he does. Groove this one.
Read More...Velvet Underground Month at Those Who Dig
Hello readers. I hope you're ready for something new that happens to be old because we're about to try something a little different. Starting tomorrow, we will begin about a month of content devoted to the Velvet Underground. Read on for more details.
Chilly Gonzales – The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales
This installment of Label Year marks the first artist to have a second release in 2011. We are privileged with the chance to hear some more compelling music from Chilly Gonzales. His latest is called The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales. Billed as "the first-ever all orchestral rap album," this is truly a unique listening experience not to be missed.
Grand Rapids performs American Pie
I have recently come across (or stumbled upon, as it were) this amazing video of 5,000+ citizens of Grand Rapids, Michigan performing a version of Don McLean's "American Pie." I dig it and think you really should check it out.
R.I.P. Marshall Grant
Some sad musical news today in a day filled with madness around the globe. Marshall Grant, bassist and the last surviving member of Johnny Cash's Tennessee Two passed away in Arkansas at the age of 83. As giant Cash fans, especially of his Sun Records days, we hope Cash and the boys are now jamming together again.
(Cheers to The Daily Swarm)
Read More...Weekly Roundup: Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2011
Has it really been 6 weeks since the last Weekly Roundup?! ACK! Let's get right into the music then, shall we?
Keith Jarrett: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
What can I say, deep down I'm really just a sap. Keith Jarrett always brings it out of me and his sparse and emotionally open arranagment of Somewhere Over the Rainbow will get me every time. The video is a performance from Tokyo in 1984. If once just insn't enough, the mp3 is his encore improvisation of the tune from his 1995 La Scala concert. You dig?
Keith Jarrett: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
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